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Metro says ridership growing as service recovery continues; large area projects to reinvest suspended hours
Summary
Metro briefed the Regional Transit Committee May 21 on progress implementing the 2023 service recovery plan, reporting year-over-year ridership growth, and outlining mobility projects (Lynnwood Link, Madison Street/RapidRide, Eastside connections, South King County) that will reinvest suspended service hours locally.
KING COUNTY — King County Metro told the Regional Transit Committee on May 21 that bus ridership is rising and that it is restoring service hours through a series of area-based mobility projects instead of reverting wholesale to pre-pandemic schedules.
“Today, we are growing service a lot,” Katie Chalmers, manager of Metro’s service development section, told the committee, summarizing a months-long program of project-based restorations tied to light-rail openings and community planning.
Key points Metro reported: • Ridership: Metro reported year-over-year growth (staff cited an 8–9% systemwide increase and Deanna Martin reported April weekday boardings were roughly 9.8% higher than April 2024; Saturday ridership up about 16% and Sunday about 8.6%). Metro also noted highest trip delivery in 2025 at about 99.4% of scheduled trips after a low of 92% in 2023.
• Mobility projects and restored hours: Metro said the Lynnwood Link connections restored about 75,700 service hours last fall; the Madison Street restructure and RapidRide E implementation restored hours in that corridor (staff noted about 4,000 suspended hours in the Madison area earlier that were addressed); Eastside connections will add roughly 65,000 hours this fall with remaining Eastside hours phased in 2026; the South King County (Southlake) project is proposed to return about 76,000 hours to the area pending further community engagement and King County Council approval for fall 2026 implementation.
• Planning approach: Metro said it will reinvest hours in the same project areas from which they were suspended and that phased implementations align with phased light-rail openings and workforce capacity, including operator hiring and training. Staff emphasized a shift in trip timing: midday and weekend travel have grown relative to the pre-pandemic peak-dominant profile.
Why it matters: Metro said restoring service by local project allows the agency to match current travel patterns, improve frequency where demand has grown and coordinate with Sound Transit’s light-rail openings. Officials stressed local coordination with cities and school districts on bell times, routing and reliability investments.
Questions from council members addressed how Metro uses the system evaluation to prioritize investments, the limits of current funding, the need for additional outreach and the trade-offs communities experience when routes are restructured.
Ending: Metro asked local jurisdictions to partner on engagement and outreach as changes are implemented, noting additional implementation phases and a continuing cycle of evaluation and adjustment.
